Take Care
by MissM789
Summary: Felicity, Diggle and Roy process Malcolm Merlyn's announcement of Oliver's death...Loosely based on the promos for Season 3 Episode 10


**TAKE CARE **

"_This is not happening. Any second now I'm going to wake up from this twisted nightmare. Soon my alarm is going to go off and everything will be okay._" These were the thoughts running through Felicity Smoak's mind as Malcolm Merlyn made the announcement that had threatened to destroy Felicity's world in mere seconds.

"Oliver Queen is dead."

She could feel the worried glances that her partners, John Diggle and Roy Harper, threw in her direction and while both men were concerned about how she was taking Merlyn's unwelcome news about their team leader and friend, she knew that they were also dealing with their own warring emotions.

"Get out." Felicity barely even registered that it was her that whispered the command for Merlyn to leave and when no one in the room moved, she found herself yelling, "Get out of here now, Malcolm!"

This time Merlyn had the sense to leave the foundry quietly and the remaining team Arrow members still stood in place as an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Diggle was the first to move as he made his way over to Felicity and wrapped her in his arms. Felicity knew that he was trying to comfort her and she appreciated it but at that moment, she just had to be alone.

"There's no point staying any longer. I'm out of here." She grabbed her bag and left immediately.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" asked Roy.

"No. For now she just needs some time to accept this." replied Diggle.

"So that's it? Are we just going to accept Merlyn's word that Ra's al Ghul killed Oliver?"

"It's hard to accept, Roy, but yeah. This is the way of the League of Assassins. We all knew this fight could lead to this. I just wish I had been with Oliver to help him."

"What are we going to do now?"

Diggle answered the young man honestly, "I really don't know man."

Both men left the foundry at the same time. Diggle headed home to break the news to Lyla and Roy found himself drowning his sorrows at the club. Thea found him as he poured his third drink. Concerned about him, she asked what was bothering him. Roy's heart began to feel even more constricted as he internally debated telling Thea the truth about her brother being dead; eventually he went with a lesser version of the truth and told her that he got some bad news about a friend. He was rescued from answering more of her questions when she was called to deal with some suppliers. He knew that telling her about Oliver was inevitable but it didn't make the task any less heartbreaking.

Felicity scarcely remembered the drive to her home. All she could think about was Oliver's last words to her being that he loved her. But she never got the chance to tell him that she loved him too. She knew that he knew how she felt about him but the fact that she never said it out loud was tormenting her now. Her head knew that Malcolm was telling the truth but her heart refused to believe that Oliver, her Oliver, was dead. She would have felt it if he was truly gone, wouldn't she? That tiny beacon of hope was enough for her to keep her faith that Oliver could still be alive. Oliver was out there, hurt and alone. He needed her and she was going to find him. Having something to focus on now, Felicity grabbed her laptop and began searching for anything that could lead her back to the man that she loved. If Oliver was out there, she was going to find him!

That was how Diggle found her the next morning at the foundry, running more searches. He had been to her apartment and Palmer Technologies before finally deciding to look for her at the foundry. He could tell from the way that she looked that she hadn't slept at all last night and he was worried that she would have a breakdown any time soon. That would have been totally acceptable given the circumstances but once he got closer to her, he could see a fire burning in her eyes and he wasn't sure if that worried him more. Diggle knew that Felicity and Oliver's relationship was far from conventional but the love they shared for each other was strong. For Felicity to lose Oliver without really having him in the first place was a heartache he wished he could take away from the woman he cared for as if she were his own sister. So he did what he could do best at the moment, be there for her.

"Felicity, what can I do to help?" he asked, knowing that she needed to do the searches for herself in order to make peace with Oliver's death.

"Thank you, John, for indulging me. I just...I just can't give up on him yet. He always came for me whether it was the Count ... Slade ... Cooper. He needs me this time, Digg."

"I can't say I completely understand, Felicity, but I'll do everything I can if there's even a chance that he's alive. But I need you to promise me that if Malcolm is right, you will let this go and slowly start to put this behind you. Oliver would want you to have the life he couldn't give you."

"What kind of life would that be Digg?!" Felicity argued tearfully, "Even though we weren't together, at least I knew Oliver was here and safe. I may not have gotten the happily ever after with him but he was alive. There's a gaping hole in my heart now that I can't even begin to imagine it ever being filled again. I just feel so ... so empty."

By that point Felicity was sobbing uncontrollably and when Diggle held her, it was as though all the fight that was left in her faded as she gave in to her grief and they both sank down to the floor, Diggle doing his best to comfort the heartbroken woman. He still didn't know what they would do next but with Oliver gone, Diggle took it upon himself to take care of his team members because they were more than just that. They were family and family takes care of each other, no matter what.

**THE END**


End file.
